The Sermon Notes of Harold Buls

The Sermon Notes of Harold Buls

On the Gospel Lessons of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia

Text from Luke 14:1-11

Trinity XVII

1. This occasion took place on a Sabbath day. It was not uncommon at
Jesus' time for Jews to have a feast on the Sabbath after the synagogue
service, so long as the food was prepared on the previous day.

2. The text makes clear that host and all guests were Pharisees, except
Jesus. Jesus was invited as a friend but they were watching Him closely
as vs. 1 indicates. They had much to learn.

3. Vss. 2-6 show how loveless these Pharisees were. The Sabbath Day was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It was a day of rest to remind the
OT Jews of the rest which Christ would give. It was a "sign." Ex. 20:8-11;
31:12-17. It was a type of eternal rest. Christ fulfilled the Sabbath. Col.
2:16. See Heb. 4:1-13. There remains a rest (eternal life) for us. The
Sabbath
was a day of mercy not of rules to earn eternal life. The Pharisees viewed
the Sabbath as a harsh day of strict rules and regulations. Jesus asked the
Pharisees: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" The obvious
answer
was: "It is lawful." But that was contrary to what they believed. And so
they would not answer. They remained silent. They had not yet entered the
Kingdom of God. They lacked faith in Christ and love toward their
neighbor.
That is why Jesus spoke the three parables in vss. 7-11, 12-14, and
16-24.

4. Vss. 7-11 show us the sinful pride of fallen human nature. Vss. 12-14
show us the loveless, selfish attitude of fallen human nature. And vss.
16-
24 show us how these fallen sinners often refuse to repent and heed the
call of Jesus to His great Gospel banquet in the church. Notice that each
parable has an important concluding sentence. For vss. 7-10 we have vs.
11. For vss. 12-13 we have vs. 14. And for vss. 16-23 we have vs. 24.

5. Our text today is only one of the three parables, vss. 11-14. The
principle enunciated in vs. 14 is one of the great laws in the kingdom of
God. It is identical with Lk. 18:14. Compare Mt. 23:12 and similarly Mt.
18:4. For the thought compare Mt. 11:23; II Cor. 11:7; Jas. 4:10; I Pet. 5:6
and also Lk. 16:15; Rom. 12:16; I Tim. 6:17.

6. Sinful pride amounts to fear that we won't be recognized for our
imagined greatness. But true humility has no fear. It trusts that God will
provide, in His mercy, whatever is necessary. The Pharisees were
Pharisees even among the Pharisees. They all wanted the most important
seats. They were like the Pharisee in Lk. 18 who said: "God I thank You
that
I am not as the rest of men." That included other Pharisees too. Even in
their own company it was impossible for the Pharisees to conceal their
Pharisaic tendencies. They are a picture of all of fallen mankind. Natural
man, like Adam and Eve, wants to be God. But, like Adam and Eve, he sinks
very low and will be ashamed on Judgement Day unless he repents of his
sin and believes in the Gospel. Read Php. 2:1-11. If the sinless Son of God
humbled Himself so deeply, how much more must not we sinful, proud
sinners do so! The Son of man came to serve, not to be served. Mk. 10:45.

7. By repentance and faith a sinner becomes a new creature. II Cor. 5:17.
Old things have passed away. All has become new. He constantly cries
"Lord have mercy on me, a proud sinner!" A Christian still has an old
Adam,
a sinful nature, but he confesses it and finds forgiveness in Christ. He
begins to live in humility, putting himself last as Christ did. Our newness
in Christ rules over our sinful pride.

8. Gal. 5:26 reads "Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envying
one another." Sinful pride is the cause of all lies, false teachings and
sinful strife. Satan is the father of lies, false teachings and strife. Jn. 8.
It is impossible for sinful, human nature not to be puffed up by praise for
self. Even Paul, who had the spirit of Christ, was kept from sinful pride
by
the thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him. II Cor. 12:7.
Lord have mercy on me, a proud sinner! Faith in Christ conquers the
stubborn flesh.

The Sermon Outline of Harold Buls

On the Gospel Lessons of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia

Text from Luke 14:1-11

Trinity XVII

THEME: GOD RESISTS THE PROUD BUT SHOWS MERCY TO THE HUMBLE

INTRODUCTION

Our theme is taken from Prov. 3:34 which is quoted in the NT, Jas. 4:6 and
I
Pet. 5:5. Read all of Jas. 4 and I Pet. 5. Pride is a characteristic of a pagan
person. Humility is a characteristic of a repentant Christian. That is a
constant theory in the Bible. See the passages under #5 in the Sermon
Notes. That's what Jesus meant when He said in vs. 11 of our text:
"Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and everyone who humbles
himself will be exalted."

I. GOD RESISTS THE PROUD

A. Who the proud are. The Bible describes the proud in various ways.
But they all have one thing in common. They have no love or mercy
for their fellow-man. They are described for us in our text in vss. 2-
6. A man who had dropsy came into the dining room. Jesus asked the
guests: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" They couldn't
answer. Then Jesus used a simple illustration. If you have a child or
an ox fall into a pit on the Sabbath, don't you pull him out? They
refused to answer. If they had said, "No" they would have denied
mercy. But if they had said "Yes" they would have agreed with Jesus.
They refused to do that. Why? Their attitude toward the Sabbath was
wrong. The Sabbath was a day of remembrance of rest, not of
merciless rules which the Pharisees had made. They did not love
their neighbors. They had impenitent hearts. They were still dead in
their sins. They proved this by taking the first seats at a dinner.

B. What will happen to them. Note carefully vs. 9 in our text. If a
proud man takes a seat too high for him at a dinner, he will be
shamed when the host tells him to take a lower seat. Jesus is not
merely telling us where to sit at dinner. He is talking about an
incorrect attitude which leads to destruction. The proud man makes
himself god. He wants to be lord over other people. He refuses to be a
servant to mankind. Like the Pharisee in the temple he says: "God I
thank you that I am not like other people." Unless he repents of his
sin he will suffer great shame on Judgment Day. God resists the
proud not only in this life but also in eternity. Pride cometh before
the fall.

II. GOD SHOWS MERCY TO THE HUMBLE

A. Who the humble are. They are like Jesus. Jesus healed the dropsied
man on the Sabbath Day. He did not violate the Sabbath. God did not
forbid deeds of mercy on the Sabbath. God never forbids deeds of
mercy. He is a God of mercy and is merciful all the time, forever.
Why was Jesus merciful? Because He was humble. He said: "The Son
of man came not to be served but to serve, to give His life as ransom
for many." Mk. 10:45. Read Php. 2:5-11. Jesus humbled himself and
became obedient to death. God wants us to be that way. The humble
person is the person who confesses his many sins, his sins of pride
too. Until death man is a sinful person who is proud. The humble man
confesses his sins of pride daily as did David and St. Paul. He cries:
"God be merciful to me, the sinner."

B. What will happen to them. The Lord hears the cries of those who
confess their sins. He shows mercy to the humble. For Jesus' sake He
forgives the sinner. Such a person becomes a new creature. he
glorifies God by living a new life of humility and love. Peter sinned
greatly when he proudly denied Christ. But he confessed his sin and
was forgiven. He spent the rest of his life in humility. The final
exaltation will come at death when Jesus will take this humble man
to himself in heaven. At death this humble man will lose his sinful
flesh. Jesus will raise his purified body to life everlasting in
heaven.

CONCLUSION

God resists the proud but shows mercy to the humble. Cast all your
sins of pride on the Lord. He forgives you and helps you to fight your
pride and to live the life of a servant to others.

This text was converted to ascii format for Project Wittenberg
by Cindy A. Beesley and is in the public domain. You may
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comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther
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